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Microsoft Closes Skype Deal

Remember that earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it would acquire Skype for US$8.5 billion? Well, that deal has officially closed, and the voice call and chat service giant is now a new business unit in Microsoft. Skype CEO Tony Bates has assumed the title of President of the Skype Division of Microsoft.

In the press release, Microsoft CEO Steve Baller said that the company would continue to “create new ways for people to stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues”. So what’s the next milestone for Skype? According to Bates, the union of Microsoft and Skype will “accelerate Skype’s goal to reach 1 billion users daily”. Surely, integration of the app in the coming versions of Windows and Windows Phone are already in the pipeline.

And as reported by Neowin, Microsoft has wasted no time to trumpet the fact that Skype is now part of Microsoft, by having a Skype page on the company’s main site.